Haha. Yes. Ardija fans are aware enough of Tsubouchi's recent career path, Oitim. He seems to be being considered as more or less a straight replacement within the squad for Murayama, who as I mentioned here a little while ago has gone to Oita and was the most limited player even at Omiya. Hopefully Tsubouchi will get as much playing time in 2010 as Murayama did in 2009 - practically none at all. As things stand the Squirrels' back four looks like it will be made up of three new guys (Fukaya, Murakami from Kawasaki and Sugiyama from Kofu) plus mighty Mato Neretljak, which could be okay.

Meanwhile the Japan National Team on Tuesday in Oita played the first of four games this month, drawing 0-0 in a friendly against Venezuela. The main point of interest was a return to the international scene for thirty-year-old Kashima Antlers midfielder Mitsuo Ogasawara, three years after his last cap. Ogasawara, who won the J-League's Player of the Year last season, often seems to have been regarded by National Team coaches as a negative influence in the dressing room on account of his supposedly cold personality and certainly for one of the country's best players, his international opportunities have been few and far between.

The Venezuela game was one of those encounters that ends up being described as "low key" - Japan never seem to do all that well at this time of year, the middle of the J-League's close season, although Okada has been working for some time now with his squad at a training camp in Kagoshima. Venezuela rarely looked dangerous and at the other end the nearest the Blue Samurai came to scoring were a long-range Ogasawara shot mid-way through the first half and a glancing header in the last ten minutes by Sanfrecce Hiroshima striker Hisato Sato. There's a decent highlights clip on Youtube, here.

It's been a few days, hasn't it? So, Thursday saw the J-League Pre-Season Press Launch Season come roaring back to life at Shonan Bellmare, heading back to J1 after just getting the better of year-long rivals Ventforet Kofu in the 2009 promotion race. Whether the Kanagawa Green and Blues will be winning any friends with this particular effort is open to question - and in a land of boring away kits, well, they have about the most boring (Mito Hollyhock are still looking like being the best). Shonan's slogan, too, in an uninspired effort that simply makes modifications on last year's. Ah well.



Goalkeeper, Home, Away



Shonan slogan graphic

Among the busiest clubs in the transfer market this winter has been Cerezo Osaka, three years in J2 but now - like the aforementioned Shonan Bellmare - preparing for life back in the top division. They evidently have had more cash to spend than both Shonan and the other promoted side, Vegalta Sendai, the Cherries having brought in not only three players from relegated Oita Trinita, but two from crosstown rivals Gamba Osaka. Former international striker Ryuji Bando is the biggest star among the newcomers, but they all turned up for press launch on Friday.



A bunch of fresh Cherries

The Japan National Team continued their stuttering start to World Cup year on Saturday evening, drawing 0-0 with China in Tokyo. The game was the opening encounter in the finals of the East Asian Football Championships, a four-way round-robin tournament also involving South Korea and Hong Kong that will be played in the Japanese capital over the coming week. Japanese coach Takeshi Okada is naturally using the competition as part of his preparations for South Africa, but remembering also Tuesday's goalless match against Venezuela, things are not exactly going well just at present.

Indeed, Okada's team were booed off the pitch by a proportion of the 26,000 crowd, an excellent 81st-minute penalty save by Nagoya Grampus keeper Seigo Narazaki rescuing Japan from an even worse result against a well-organised Chinese side. The supporters are growing increasingly frustrated by the coach's continuing use of Keiji Tamada and Yoshito Okubo, both front players with a less than impressive scoring record at international level. Striker Seiji Okazaki of Shimizu S-Pulse looks to be a certain starter and put in a creditable performance, but other sources of goals remain relatively untried by Okada.

The closest Japan came to scoring against China was early in the second half, when young Kashima Antlers defender Atsuto Uchida burst into the penalty area and fired in an angled shot that rebounded off the far post. Tamada, Okubo and also substitute Sota Hirayama all missed good chances, while at the other end Marcus Tulio Tanaka had to scoop the ball off the line as the visitors again put the Japanese defence under pressure. The next match on Thursday against Hong Kong surely cannot end with the same scoreline. Youtube highlights of the China game can nevertheless be found here.

It's been a deeply disappointing start to World Cup year for the Japanese National Team - and the sense of despondency for supporters of the Blue Samurai only increased after their team recorded a 3-0 win over Hong Kong in the East Asian Football Championship on Thursday evening. Coach Takeshi Okada's side produced another lacklustre performance, to follow recent goalless draws with Venezuela and China. The level of interest in the team ahead of Japan's fourth consecutive World Cup finals appearance seems to be on the decline, only 16,000 people showing up for the Hong Kong game.

Okada persisted with his selection policy of commencing with Nagoya Grampus' Keiji Tamada and Yoshito Okubo of Vissel Kobe up front, but the midfield - typically an area of strength for Japanese teams - has been notably lacking in pizzazz under the former Yokohama F Marinos boss. Yasuhito Endo and Kengo Nakamura seem to be unable to reproduce their club form at international level, although Kashima Antlers' Mitsuo Ogasawara did at least earn another place in the starting line-up following his recall against the Chinese.

The most alarming outcome of all is that Tamada would appear to be assured of a place in the squad, if not the team, as he managed to score two close-range goals. The first came towards the end of a wretched opening period, but even then it didn't come about as a consequence of good Japanese play, our hero sliding the ball in from an angle after a mix-up in the Hong Kong defence. A towering header by new Grampus signing Marcus Tulio Tanaka made it 2-0 mid-way through the second half, Tamada punishing more hopeless defending to round off the scoring. You really want a video? Well, OK then.

East Asian Football Championship - Scores & Standings

06 Feb Japan 0-0 China
07 Feb South Korea 5-0 Hong Kong
10 Feb China 3-0 South Korea
11 Feb Japan 3-0 Hong Kong

1. = China 4 (+3)
1. = Japan 4 (+3)
3. South Korea 3 (+2)
4. Hong Kong 0 (-8)

Furtho wrote:
You really want a video? Well, OK then.


I tuned into this game 40 minutes in, having marked it in my calenda being one of the biggest game Hong Kong (My home town team) play in recent time.

I was surprised it was still only 0-0 and how lucky the Japanese got their first goal.

Tulio is a fearfome figure among the psyically inferior Hong Kong players, and his header goal made my case much clearer.

The third goal was also very flukey, I can see China being the favourite to take this championship.

Keep up the good works!

Welcome to the thread, Erichino.

It's been a while since there's been any J-League kit news, I realise, but that's simply because there hasn't been much to report. All the press launches have finished and the only thing that's happened is that Montedio Yamagata and J2 new boys Giravanz Kitakyushu have released some pictures that have their kits on them. In the case of Yamagata, that picture is just their official team photo for the season, so it's tough to get a good view of a shirt that looks very different from last year's striped effort. Kitakyushu, meanwhile, have what is for the J-League a new colour combo of yellow and red.



The Mountain Gods of Montedio Yamagata



Kitakyushu Home, Away

With the 2010 J-League campaign due to start on 6th March we're well and truly into the swing of things in terms of pre-season friendlies in Japan now. And while the most prestigious, high-pressure match on Saturday was without question Omiya Ardija's sensational 5-0 annihilation of K-League kings Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the so-called Saitama City Cup, there also took place a local derby up in Ibaraki prefecture. J1 champions Kashima Antlers paid their annual visit to near neighbours Mito Hollyhock and duly recorded a 2-0 win - which provides a highly suitable topic for a photo special.



The Mito and Kashima mascots measure up



There ain't no limits for the Hollyhock



The Mito Hollyhock line-up in full

This weekend has seen the staging of a regular pre-season competition in the shape of the Kitakyushu City Tournament, which this year takes on a greater degree of importance - these things are relative, I do acknowledge - due to the fact that local outfit Giravanz Kitakyushu are completing preparations for what will be their first ever J-League campaign. It didn't exactly go well for the Sunflowers as they lost the first match against a Kyushu Student Select and then went down to Fagiano Okayama in the Third / Fourth Place Play-off. The substantial cup was taken by Sagan Tosu, who put the students in their place with an 8-2 drubbing in Sunday's final. A photo special naturally beckons.



Giravanz Kitakyushu



Kohei Nishino of Fagiano glances admiringly at Giravanz's Tatico



Woohoo, Sagan Tosu

Kitakyushu City Tournament Semi-Finals

Fagiano Okayama 2-2 Sagan Tosu (PK 1-4)
Giravanz Kitakyushu 1-3 Kyushu Student Select

3rd / 4th Place Play-off

Fagiano Okayama 1-0 Giravanz Kitakyushu

Final

Kyushu Student Select 2-8 Sagan Tosu

After Japan's first match in the East Asian Football Championship a week ago against China, controversial JFA president Motoaki Inukai reflected on the reaction of some fans to a disappointing goalless draw as he told the Sports Hochi newspaper, "I want the supporters to boo their hearts out. It's good for the players." Presumably Inukai will now feel that the Japanese national team squad are taking giant strides in terms of their mental strength, given that under-pressure coach Takeshi Okada could hardly be heard for the fans' booing as he was interviewed following Japan's 3-1 defeat by South Korea on Sunday.

It was a result which meant that the Japanese finished third out of four in the tournament, of which they were the host nation. Apart from a win over Hong Kong, the Blue Samurai have managed only one goal in three home matches since the start of the year - and that was the penalty by Gamba Osaka midfielder Yasuhito Endo which opened the scoring mid-way through the first half against the Koreans in Tokyo. By half time, however, Japan were 2-1 behind and had also had central defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka red-carded in what was turning out to be yet another incoherent performance by Okada's team.

In the opening seconds of the second period South Korea struck the bar and shortly afterwards in a typically aggressive derby game, Kim Jung Woo was sent off for a foul on Kawasaki Frontale's Junichi Inamoto. But although Japan had a reasonable spell of pressure after Kim's dismissal, the visitors' defence was rarely in serious danger and sure enough, twenty minutes from time Kim Jae Sung fired in the goal of the game to condemn Okada's toothless side to defeat. The Japanese supporters are seething, uncertain as to whether Inukai will step up to the plate; time is running out ahead of South Africa 2010, but is it running out for Okada?

East Asia Football Championship - Scores & Final Standings

13 Feb Hong Kong 0-2 China
14 Feb Japan 1-3 South Korea

1. China 7 (+5)
2. South Korea 6 (+4)
3. Japan 4 (+1)
4. Hong Kong 0 (-10)

A couple of quotes subsequent to Japan's disastrous 3-1 defeat by South Korea on Sunday. Coach Takeshi Okada, who has said repeatedly that his target for South Africa 2010 is a semi-final spot, reiterated that point in the Daily Yomiuri. "I have no intention of changing our goal... I don't think it's putting the players or our staff under unnecessary pressure. All we can do is keep working at it." When asked if he was planning to step down as a result of the recent run of poor performances, Okada responded, "As I've said before, I'm under contract with the JFA whether we win or lose. It's up to the president and the technical committee to decide my place here."

So what did JFA president Motoaki Inukai have to say about the current situation in general and the coach in particular? Well, he may have stopped short of saying that Okada's job is in danger, but at the same time Inukai hardly gave the coach a big thumbs up, either: "We lacked fighting spirit [against South Korea]... There would be good points and bad points about firing [Okada]. We will make a collective decision, but the timing might not be right to take the risk at this stage." The view of the fans seems clearer, given that the official Japan Ultras organisation is reported to have sent out an email to all members asking them to boycott national team games until Okada is dismissed.

To follow up on the story re: beleaguered Japanese National Team coach Takeshi Okada. The Japan Times are reporting here that the JFA have indicated that they will not sack Okada ahead of the World Cup finals, despite Japan's recent series of poor results. JFA President Motoaki Inukai is quoted as saying, "I know that the media is calling for Okada to be fired, but it is a big risk to make such a change to a team that has been three years in the making just because of one or two results... We trust Okada and the direction he is taking us in, and it is best to leave him to get on with his work as he sees fit."

Meanwhile the J-League have announced that two more teams have been granted Associate Member status, a criteria which as things stand must be met by clubs in the non-league set-up who are targetting J-League membership. Ambitious Nagano prefecture-based Matsumoto Yamaga Club were in December promoted into the third-tier JFL from the Regional Leagues and as such are now in a similar position to Gainare Tottori, Machida Zelvia and V Varen Nagasaki, all of whom are aiming to be among the next wave of clubs to populate the expanding J-League.

More controversial, however, is the news that SC Sagamihara are also now Associate Members. The controversy stems from the fact that Sagamihara are currently three steps below the JFL in the Kanagawa Prefectural League - their near neighbours are the two Yokohama clubs, plus Kawasaki Frontale and Shonan Bellmare - which makes them by some margin the lowest-level Associate Member team ever. Crikey. Anyhoo, we can mull all this over while looking at a photo special of posters produced by some J-League clubs to promote their early-season home fixtures.



Ehime FC



Shonan Bellmare



Tokushima Vortis

The 2010 Japanese club season has started! Now, okay, most people perhaps may argue that it gets underway this coming weekend at the National Stadium, with the Fuji Xerox Cup between J1 champions Kashima Antlers and Emperor's Cup winners Gamba Osaka. But such people are misguided. In error. Wrong. Because it actually commenced in far less glamorous surroundings, on Friday, on various pitches around the provincial city of Oita in the north-east of Kyushu. The first real action of the year is in fact none other than the Western Japan Shakaijin Soccer Tournament.

You'd be forgiven for not being entirely familiar with such a competition, an oddly-formatted annual affair with eight participants - normally the top two teams from the preceding season's Kyushu, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kansai Leagues, i.e. the western-most of the nine Regional Leagues. It's a knock-out tournament, but one in which the losers at every round take part in play-off games, which goes to make a very roundabout route to a first-to-eighth ranking. What it also is is a first glimpse at some of the strongest fourth-tier teams in the country, who may later on in the year have a chance at promotion to the JFL.

Last year's competition was won by Ain Food from Kansai, who beat Shikoku Leaguers Tokushima Vortis Second on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the final. This season, cash-strapped Chugoku League champions Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku have sulked and said they're not coming, thus providing a chance at glory for FC Ube Yahhh-man instead. The title holders in Kyushu, Okinawa Kariyushi, folded during the winter and their place was taken by local lads Nippon Steel Oita, although Nippon Steel did finish third in the league and so were as good a replacement as any.

So how did the actual curtain-raiser to the club season go? Well, Vortis Second again managed to reach the final but again lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw - a result made more painful due to the fact that the team to beat them were Kamatamare Sanuki, their fierce rivals from just up the coast of Shikoku. The result of the tournament was probably Kamatamare's 4-1 destruction of Renofa Yamaguchi, with Renofa on paper considered to be the stronger of two provincial teams aiming at a J-League place. Could 2010 be the year that Shikoku starts to make more headway as a force in Japanese football?



Kamatamare Sanuki score against Sanyo Electric Sumoto

Group 1 - First Round

Kamatamare Sanuki 2-2 Sanyo Electric Sumoto (PK 4-3)
Renofa Yamaguchi 4-2 Nippon Steel Oita

Group 1 - 3rd / 4th Place Play-off

Sanyo Electric Sumoto 2-1 Nippon Steel Oita

Group 1 - Final

Kamatamare Sanuki 4-1 Renofa Yamaguchi


Group 2 - First Round

FC Ube Yahhh-man 1-3 Tokushima Vortis Second
Volca Kagoshima 3-1 AS Laranja Kyoto

Group 2 - 3rd / 4th Place Play-off

FC Ube Yahhh-man 4-1 AS Laranja Kyoto

Group 2 - Final

Tokushima Vortis Second 3-0 Volca Kagoshima


7th / 8th Place Play-off

Nippon Steel Oita 4-0 AS Laranja Kyoto

5th / 6th Place Play-off

Sanyo Electric Sumoto 5-0 FC Ube Yahhh-man

3rd / 4th Place Play-off

Renofa Yamaguchi 1-1 Volca Kagoshima (PK 5-4)

Final

Kamatamare Sanuki 1-1 Tokushima Vortis Second (PK 5-4)


Overall Ranking

1. Kamatamare Sanuki
2. Tokushima Vortis Second
3. Renofa Yamaguchi
4. Volca Kagoshima
5. Sanyo Electric Sumoto
6. FC Ube Yahhh-man
7. Nippon Steel Oita
8. AS Laranja Kyoto

OK, playing a bit of catch-up here. Over the last couple of evenings, the four J-League participants in the tournament have kicked off the round-robin Group Stage of the 2010 Asian Champions League - and it has to be said they achieved some pretty poor results. Only one of them, 2009 domestic champions Kashima Antlers in Group F, even managed to score a goal, former international Koji Nakata netting just before half time in a 1-0 win over China's Changchun Yatai (who it is important to draw to the attention of a wider audience have in their squad a Costa Rican striker called Johnny Woodly Lambert).

The best of the distinctly mediocre rest were Gamba Osaka, who at least came away from South Korea's Suwon Samsung Bluewings with a 0-0 draw to get going in Group G, from which both Gamba and Suwon should in fact qualify without too much difficulty. But competition first-timers Sanfrecce Hiroshima suffered a very disappointing loss at home to Shandong Luneng of China to tumble straight to the bottom of a particularly tough-looking Group H, while Kawasaki Frontale went down 2-0 in their Group E match at K-Leaguers Seongnam Ilhwa Chunwa.

But the J-League 2010 season is winding up to start a week on Saturday, which means that this coming weekend sees the staging in Tokyo of the romantically-named Fuji Xerox Cup between Kashima as J1 title holders and Gamba as winners of the Emperor's Cup. The two have been regulars in this curtain-raiser in the last few seasons and indeed the game will be a repeat of last year's encounter, which the Antlers easily won 3-0. If Gamba are going to get the championship crown back again they know that they're going to have to match Kashima as the strongest club in Japan - but as things stand, they'll be underdogs every time.



Perhaps not this year, Sanfrecce Hiroshima

ACL Group E - Scores & Standings @ Round 1/6

Beijing Guoan 1-0 Melbourne Victory
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunwa 2-0 Kawasaki Frontale

1. Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 3 (+2)
2. Beijing Guoan 3 (+1)
----------------
3. Melbourne Victory 0 (-1)
4. Kawasaki Frontale 0 (-2)

ACL Group F - Scores & Standings @ Round 1/6

Kashima Antlers 1-0 Changchun Yatai
Persipura Jayapura 1-4 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

1. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 3 (+3)
2. Kashima Antlers 3 (+1)
----------------
3. Changchun Yatai 0 (-1)
4. Persipura Jayapura 0 (-3)

ACL Group G - Scores & Standings @ Round 1/6

Henan Construction 0-0 Singapore Armed Forces
Suwon Samsung Bluewings 0-0 Gamba Osaka

1. = Gamba Osaka 1 (-)
1. = Henan Construction 1 (-)
----------------
1. = Singapore Armed Forces 1 (-)
1. = Suwon Samsung Bluewings 1 (-)

ACL Group H - Scores & Standings @ Round 1/6

Adelaide United 1-0 Pohang Steelers
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0-1 Shandong Luneng

1. = Adelaide United 3 (+1)
1. = Shandong Luneng 3 (+1)
----------------
3. = Pohang Steelers 0 (-1)
3. = Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0 (-1)

In Japan's equivalent of the Community Shield, J1 champions Kashima Antlers took the Fuji Xerox Cup at the National Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday afternoon. The Antlers beat Emperor's Cup holders Gamba Osaka on penalties after a tightly-contested draw, in which Kashima took the lead through a Marquinhos penalty in the twentieth minute. The J-League's top side continued to have the better of things for the rest of the first half, only for Akira Kaji to equalise in injury time with a shot that deflected off international midfielder Mitsuo Ogasawara.

The second half was entertaining fare for the 35,000 supporters - but neither team was quite able to do enough to open up the opposition defence and get the third goal of the game, which duly ended one apiece. In the subsequent shoot-out, Gamba main man Yasuhito Endo stunned the crowd by abandoning his normal korokoro style of softly-struck penalty and indeed he missed the target completely. It was Brazilian star Marquinhos who scored the winning penalty in a match that overall whet the appetite for what is hoped will be a close 2010 season.


Marquinhos prepares to deliver the knock-out blow

Fuji Xerox Cup

Kashima 1-1 Gamba (PK 5-3)

To report briefly on a couple of highly contrasting news stories from the J-League, a week before the 2010 season gets underway. To the surprise of no-one, former Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura has brought to an end a brief and disappointing spell at Espanol by returning to Japan and his first club Yokohama F Marinos. Nakamura even made some remarks at his press conference in relation to a possible title win, although a more realistic consideration is likely to have been the opportunity for regular first team football ahead of the World Cup.

Much less cheerful is the tale of Taishi Tsukamoto, a defender with Omiya Ardija who on Saturday announced that he will almost certainly have to retire from football at the age of only 24. Just after New Year the player went back to his old high school in Urawa to lead a training session, during which he felt a pain in his right knee; subsequent exploratory surgery showed this to be caused by a cancerous growth. A heartrending and tearful press conference has led to Tsukamoto receiving messages of support from fans all over Japan.

I'd planned to finish this post with a photo special of banners from the Fuji Xerox Cup, but the circumstances surrounding Taishi Tsukamoto - a young man who should be looking forward to his third season on the Squirrels squad - have made such an idea seem in dreadful taste. Having met him, I can only say that he was a pleasant, shy fellow who at that time was simply thrilled to have the opportunity to be a pro footballer. He played 27 times for Omiya, scoring two goals - including a free-kick voted Ardija's Goal of the Season for 2009. Tsuka-chan, ganbare.



Taishi Tsukamoto

So here we go! It's J1 preview time...

Cerezo Osaka

Where did they finish last season? 2nd J2

Ahead of their first J1 campaign since 2006 the Cherries look about the best-prepared of the three promoted sides, having brought in (among others) three players from Oita Trinita and two from Gamba Osaka, together with a couple of new Brazilians. That ought to see them avoid getting involved in any serious relegation trouble and indeed, coach Levir Culpi may seek to draw inspiration from Sanfrecce Hiroshima, a similarly attacking team who last year performed impressively after promotion.

Furtho's predict-o-tron Mid-table

FC Tokyo

Last season 5th J1

It's been a less-than-thrilling close season for Tokyo fans, Albirex Niigata midfielder Toshihiro Matsushita and promising young Oita Trinita defender Masato Morishige looking like the signings most likely to appear in the first team. Striker Ricardinho is only 21 and it could be that the team will look to new international striker Sota Hirayama for more goals this year than he's previously been able to manage. Or will Naohiro Ishikawa be able to reproduce his sensational scoring form of last year?

Predict-o-tron Top half maybe, top four no

Gamba Osaka

Last season 3rd J1

Is Gamba coach Akira Nishino interested solely in the attacking part of his team? Maybe; he's now got four Brazilian strikers, including new signings Dodo - a teenager most recently at Ehime FC - and Ze Carlos, who scored the winner in the ACL Final while at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. But the question is, will the Blue and Blacks' attack be better than Kashima Antlers' defence? Well, at the end of last season Kashima crushed them 5-1 to extinguish Gamba's hopes of winning the title. Hmmm.

Predict-o-tron Top four



Akira Nishino wraps up against the cold

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Last season 4th J1

Hiroshima did brilliantly last year in what was their first season back in J1 after promotion. 2010 will see Sanfrecce participate in the ACL and they will do so without Urawa Reds-bound playmaker Yosuke Kashiwagi. Most of the close-season attention, though, has been on the club's chasing of Oita Trinita keeper Shusaku Nishikawa, which while all well and good doesn't address questions like how they will cope with the demands of a tough league and ACL season - especially if goal king Hisato Sato gets injured.

Predict-o-tron Oooh... same as Tokyo

Jubilo Iwata

Last season 11th J1

Good God! Despite a mid-table finish, Jubilo had the worst defence in J1 last year, conceding sixty goals. They've brought in a couple of Koreans to try and sort things out, including Park Joo Ho from Kashima Antlers, but in some respects the attention has to be on the forwards who saved them in 2009: will Lee Keun Ho and Ryoichi Maeda really be able to repeat their impressive scoring record? If they don't, will incoming Mito Hollyhock club legend Tomoyuki Arata be the man to save them?

Predict-o-tron Bottom third

Kashima Antlers

Last season 1st J1

Is anyone betting against the Antlers picking up what would be a fourth consecutive J1 title? The best defence in the J-League has been strengthened yet further by the arrival from Kyoto Sanga of South Korean international Lee Jung Soo and from Albirex Niigata of wingback Gilton. A possible weak link might be the number of goals Kashima score, given that Marquinhos will be 34 soon and managed only eleven from open play last year. But it looks like they'll still be the team to beat.

Predict-o-tron Top two



Kashima coach Osvaldo Oliveira spells it out

Kawasaki Frontale

Last season 2nd J1

Frontale are a team facing a season with a whole lot of distractions. Back once again in the ACL and with star striker Chong Tese - aka the Wayne Rooney of North Korea - carrying his country's World Cup hopes on his shoulders, it seems as if there's a lot that could go wrong for a club desperate to pick up a first-ever J-League title. They're going to have to do it with a new coach, Tsutomu Takahata returning to the seat that is hot after Takashi Sekizuka stood down due to his failure to pick up any silverware in 2009.

Predict-o-tron Top eight

Vissel Kobe

Last season 14th J1

The Maroons - previously the Black and Whites - are one of those teams who don't seem to be able to keep a firm grasp on a J1 place. They just don't seem to be able to fight their way out of the bottom third; I can't think of, er, any other teams like that just at the moment. Anyway, Kobe have brought in unpredictable Popo from Kashiwa Reysol and portly Edmilson from Oita Trinita, while it'll be interesting to see if J2 goal machine Ken Tokura will be able to get some playing time after joining from Thespa Kusatsu.

Predict-o-tron Mid-table

Kyoto Sanga

Last season 12th J1

Confirmed as one of Japan's dullest teams in 2009, Sanga have lost Lee Jung Soo to Kashima Antlers, while star midfielder Yuto Sato raised eyebrows by returning to relegated JEF United. Having released veteran Sidiclei into the bargain, Kyoto have concentrated over the winter on boosting their midfield - but it's still not clear who's going to get the goals that might see them scrape a top-half finish. Maybe chunky Brazilian Diego will turn it on a bit to win over the fans to coach Hisashi Kato.

Predict-o-tron Bottom third



Kyoto's Atsushi Yanagisawa on promo duty with Kobe's Tsune Miyamoto

Yokohama F Marinos

Last season 10th J1

One of the squads perhaps most affected by the impact of the recession upon Japanese corporations. With some supporters fearing the worst, the Sailors arguably overachieved in 2009, ending up tenth off the back of a decent defensive record and the thank-God-for-that arrival on the scene of goalscoring rookie Kazuma Watanabe. Marinos have just successfully concluded negotiations with Espanol over the return to Japan of Shunsuke Nakamura, but their signings in the close season have been pretty feeble.

Predict-o-tron Hard to see any improvement. Maybe not relegated, but below halfway.

Nagoya Grampus

Last season 9th J1

Club legend Dragan Stojkovic is preparing to lead Nagoya into a third season as coach and it's fair to say that his results to date have mostly been a major letdown. A trip to the 2009 Emperor's Cup final ended in defeat to Gamba Osaka, thus failing to mask a disastrous ninth-place J1 finish. This year Stojkovic can have no complaints about the level of backing given to him, as Marcus Tulio Tanaka arrives from Urawa Reds, Mu Kanazaki from Oita Trinita and Mitsuru Chiyotanda from Albirex Niigata.

Predict-o-tron Top five

Albirex Niigata

Last season 8th J1

The Swans started 2009 extremely well, young striker Pedro Junior scoring the goals that fired them up to the edge of the title race. But his mid-season departure signalled a downturn in Albirex's fortunes that may not have bottomed out: coach Jun Suzuki has left after four years and it's a first top job for replacement Hisashi Kurosaki, who is having to work with a squad that has lost at least four guaranteed first-teamers. A spell of injury to midfield star Marcio Richardes could spell disaster for Niigata.

Predict-o-tron I'll say it: potential relegation candidates



Niigata before the weekend friendly at S-Pulse

Omiya Ardija

Last season 13th J1

The appalling story of Squirrels defender and recently-diagnosed cancer victim Taishi Tsukamoto has cast a shadow over what has been a highly successful preseason for Ardija. Kazuhiro Murakami and Arata Sugiyama seem to have brought some additional quality to Omiya's back line, but the absence of Tsukamoto means that there is a real lack of cover should injury strike. Coach Jang Wae Ryong has done little to improve a weak midfield, but overall the squad looks somewhat better.

Predict-o-tron It has to be TENTH IN '10!!

Shimizu S-Pulse

Last season 7th J1

After reaching the top of the standings last autumn, S-Pulse immediately went into a slump and ended the season just a couple of places above half way. The Shizuoka Oranges have had a quiet winter in the transfer market but did make the baffling decision to sign central defender Eddy Bosnar from relegated JEF United, which will give hope to many of their J1 rivals. Shinji Ono comes from Bochum for another crack at the J-League, although there has to be a question mark as to how his fitness will hold up.

Predict-o-tron Sixth-ish

Vegalta Sendai

Last season 1st J2

At last, in 2009 Sendai managed to break out of their cycle of underachievement and get themselves promoted. And what have they done in the meantime? Well, not much. The Vegalta squad is not notably stronger than it was last year and it certainly is not clear where the goals are going to come from, given that their success last year was based on a strong defence. Much-travelled playmaker Fernandinho can generally be relied on to create a chance or two, but who's going to stick it in the onion basket? Answer me that.

Predict-o-tron Bottom five



Old-school pre-season training for Sendai

Shonan Bellmare

Last season 3rd J2

A smalltown outfit from Kanagawa prefecture, Bellmare are best known as the team who launched the career of Hidetoshi Nakata. They languished in J2 for a decade but then in 2009 squeezed Ventforet Kofu out of the promotion places - and are the favourites of most commentators to go straight back down again. Shonan will need good performances from key foreigners Jean and Adiel, because their budget sure isn't big enough to have enabled them to buy any decent quality J1 players.

Predict-o-tron Sorry. Relegation

Urawa Reds

Last season 6th J1

There have been fewer changes than expected over on the Dark Side of Saitama, the likes of defender Keisuke Tsuboi and forward Naohiro Takahara remaining at the club despite rumours that both would follow Marcus Tulio Tanaka out of the club. Of the new signings, Yosuke Kashiwagi from Sanfrecce Hiroshima has picked up the most attention, but Reds really need a solid first season from the already injury-prone young Australian central defender Matthew Spiranovic, who moves to the J-League from Nuremburg.

Predict-o-tron No improvement yet under Volker Finke

Montedio Yamagata

Last season 15th J1

Absolutely everyone had Yamagata down as relegation favourites last year, in what was the first ever season in the top division and although they were hanging on at the end, the Mountain Gods just about did enough to stay up. The muscular Yu Hasegawa was a danger up front and he stays on, a boost to the team's overall quality coming in the shape of Yuzo Tashiro and Chikashi Masuda - both on a year-long loan from Kashima Antlers. If those two fit in okay, Montedio could experience a more comfortable campaign.

Predict-o-tron Just above the relegation zone

In the last piece of serious hot soccer action before the start of the J-League season on Saturday, Takeshi Okada's National Team at last put in a decent performance. Decent, if not great. But still. At last. Old rivals Bahrain were beaten 2-0 in the last of the Asian Cup qualifiers, as Okada fielded European-based players Keisuke Honda of CSKA Moscow and Wolfsburg's Makoto Hasebe. Young Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto also made an appearance, coming on as a second-half substitute for Daisuke Matsui of Grenoble.

Much of the media attention was on Shunsuke Nakamura after his recent move back to Yokohama F Marinos, and it was Nakamura who fed Matsui down the left to cross for Shinji Okazaki to head the Blue Samurai ahead in the 37th minute. Japan wouldn't have been Japan without missing a bunch of chances and Yasuhito Endo put in a notably disappointing performance, but then in injury time Kashima Antlers wingback Atsuto Uchida whipped in another cross from the right corner flag, enabling an unmarked Honda to head in from close range.

Asian Cup 2011 Qualifying Group A - Scores & Final Standings

Hong Kong 0-0 Yemen
Japan 2-0 Bahrain

1. Japan 15 (+13)
2. Bahrain 12 (+6)
3. Yemen 7 (-2)
4. Hong Kong 1 (-17)

Time now to take a look at likely happenings in J2 this season, ahead of the start of the new campaign on Saturday. Rather than run through each individual club separately I thought I'd take a regional approach, in part because the promotion from the JFL of Giravanz Kitakyushu - not to mention Oita Trinita's relegation from J1 - now means that there are no fewer than five teams from the southern island of Kyushu in the J-League's second tier. This is opportunity for developing local rivalry is certainly something that the marketing folks at the clubs concerned are planning to take full advantage of.

Kitakyushu have brought in fringe players from other J-League sides as they attempt to make themselves into a competitive pro outfit. Their pre-season hasn't been especially successful, but some commentators are suggesting that they might do okay - which bearing in mind the uncomfortable experience of last year's newcomers Fagiano Okayama and Tochigi SC probably means something like finishing out of the bottom four or so. But Kitakyushu do have a target, in the form of near neighbours Avispa Fukuoka, whose recent record as huge underachievers shows no sign of coming to an end.

Meanwhile over in Oita they are simply glad still to be around after last season's disaster and the subsequent financial meltdown that has led to Trinita receiving substantial loans from the J-League to keep going. If by some miracle they finish in the top three but haven't kept up their loan repayments, the league have already indicated that the club will be kept down in J2. Sagan Tosu and Roasso Kumamoto are teams four and five in Kyushu, Tosu in particular having undergone a massive change to their playing staff following coach Yasuyuki Kishino's departure for Yokohama FC.



Get you, Ehime FC

Our next stop is the small island of Shikoku, which has two J-League teams in the shape of Ehime FC and Tokushima Vortis. Ehime are coached by Ivica Barbaric, whose previous post was on the coaching staff of the Bosnia Herzegovina National Team, but Barbaric has his work cut out to keep up with Vortis, who took a giant leap forward last year and who could just sneak a surprise in 2010. They've managed to hold on to starlet Yoichiro Kakitani and have brought in well-travelled Assist King Yusuke Shimada and although promotion will probably be beyond them... top six? Hmmm.

Just over the Seto Inland Sea on Honshu can be found the Pheasants of Okayama, whose young side ended up bottom of the league in their first ever J-League season. They've added a modest amount of experience over the winter and their enthusiastic fanbase should see a level of improvement. The same can perhaps be said for Kataller Toyama, who've signed defender Kenjiro Ezoe from promoted Cerezo Osaka - but looking rather more likely to take a backwards step (sorry, NBNG) is a stripped-down FC Gifu squad under first-time coach Yasuharu Kurata.

This is where the whole regional idea falls to the ground a tad, because we'll have to go all the way up north to Consadole Sapporo. Their squad is also a little smaller than last year's and the Hokkaido Owls did encourage a media frenzy by bringing in 42-year-old Masashi Nakayama, but overall the quality to at least play a part in the promotion race might be there this season. Okay, and with that, it's back down to the Greater Tokyo region of Kanto, where all of the remaining J2 clubs are based - from the big city and Tokyo Verdy to the hillside hot-spring resort of Thespa Kusatsu.



Verdy coach Ryoichi Kawakatsu spells out his aim for 2010

Verdy's plight of major sponsorship bail-out has been given coverage here before and just to put together a squad they've of necessity been shopping on a budget. Nigerian teenage defender Adebayo Adegun is the most eye-catching of their new arrivals, but without departing goal-machine Masashi Oguro it's hard to see a top-half finish for the club. Kusatsu don't have much cash either and will be doing very well to end up higher than mid-table, former international defender Kazuyuki Toda being their new star after his return from a spell in the K-League with Gyeongnam FC.

There are three other clubs based in the more rural parts of Kanto, Mito Hollyhock looking weaker than the side which finished eighth last year - even if they do have a fantastic kit - while Tochigi have ripped it up and started again after getting shot of no fewer than seventeen players. More positively, Ventforet Kofu just missed out on promotion in 2009, but are set to make a better fist of it this time with a strikeforce comprising dangerous J2 forward Mike Havenaar and legendary ex-Kyoto Sanga goalgetter Paulinho, which should be enough to take them past most other teams.

Just to the east of Tokyo, Chiba prefecture had a disastrous year last year, as both JEF United and Kashiwa Reysol were relegated from J1. Reysol's new signings don't look terribly impressive although they have held on to key striker Franca, while Australian international defender Mark Milligan moves to a JEF side arguably better placed to go straight back up. And so we finish our whistlestop tour with a dark horse, who finished third bottom last year but have made huge improvements to their squad over the winter; so, will 2010 turn out to be a good year for Yokohama FC? We'll see.

Woohoo! Go J-League, go! So, after all the pre-season shenanigans, the 2010 Japanese campaign finally starts on Saturday, with a full set of fixtures across the weekend in both J1 and J2. Champions and winners of last weekend's Fuji Xerox Cup Kashima Antlers start their quest for a fourth consecutive title at home to deadly rivals Urawa Reds and that's clearly the game that will get the most attention, although a couple of the teams fancied by many pundits to challenge Kashima - Gamba Osaka and Nagoya Grampus - also meet.

Favourites for relegation Shonan Bellmare are eased back in to life in the top division with a home match against Montedio Yamagata, but the two teams to come up from J2 alongside Shonan are both away. Vegalta Sendai are at Jubilo Iwata, a side they last met in a dramatic set of Promotion / Relegation Play-off fixtures at the end of 2008, and Cerezo Osaka have an opportunity to pitch their dyanmic young stars Shinji Kagawa and Takashi Inui against the rock-like Omiya Ardija defensive pairing of Mato Neretljak and Yuki Fukaya.

In J2, newcomers Giravanz Kitakyushu have hardly been helped off to an easy start with an away game at Yokohama FC. Promotion favourites Ventforet Kofu make the first of five trips to Kyushu, where they play Avispa Fukuoka; JEF United are also down south for their first ever match in J2, at Roasso Kumamoto. The other two relegated teams, Kashiwa Reysol and Oita Trinita, meet at Kashiwa at the start of what is likely to be a particularly tough season for Trinita. But anyway... we're off!